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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Copy letter, from James David Forbes to Sir John Herschel, dated at Edinburgh

Reference number: HS/7/295

Date: 9 March 1840

Description

Copy letter in John Herschel's hand. Would like to know the degree of sensibility to heat of John Frederick William Herschel's paper. The paper of W. H. F. Talbot is useless for his purpose as only violet heat affects it. Did John Frederick William Herschel use a flint glass prism for his spectrum experiments? Has he ever used photography to show the impression of polarization and diffraction?

Reference number
HS/7/295
Earliest possible date
9 March 1840
Page extent
2 pages
Format
Manuscript
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Creator name

James David Forbes

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Citation

James David Forbes, Copy letter, from James David Forbes to Sir John Herschel, dated at Edinburgh, 9 March 1840, HS/7/295, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_7_295/copy-letter-from-james-david-forbes-to-sir-john-herschel-dated-at-edinburgh, accessed on 25 March 2025

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  • Herschel Letters

    This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science.

    Dates: 1807 - 1875

    View collection